PUKERUA BAY, New Zealand (7 Feb 2006) -- A grieving Norm Hewitt says his family are devastated after a massive search failed to find his brother Robert, who is missing and feared dead in a diving mishap off Mana Island, near the entrance to Porirua Harbour. The former All Black said the family's attention had turned to reclaiming the body of Robert Hohepa Hewitt, 38, from the sea. Mr Hewitt – a highly experienced navy diver – failed to surface after diving in waters 200 metres northwest of the island on Sunday, sparking a search and rescue effort covering hundreds of square kilometres. Yesterday, an upset Hewitt said hopes that his brother was still alive were fading quickly. "The family are grieving for Robert. We hope Robert is still with us...but as every hour passes our main focus is to retrieve Robert and take him home. We just pray Tangaroa (Maori god of the sea) returns him back to us." Hewitt said his parents, Russell and Mabel, were distressed, as was his brother Russell and sisters Tracy and Luana. Robert Hewitt has three children, Meripi, 14, Casey, 13, and Kiriana, 6. Sergeant Bruce Johnson said Mr Hewitt had been diving off the charter boat, Shockwave, and had gone down with a dive buddy. But the buddy had come out of the water because he was having problems with his ears and returned to the boat. "(Robert) came up with him and then went back down on his own unfortunately." Before he went back down, he told the dive buddy that he would make his way to the shore, only 200 metres away. "We're not talking a big distance or particularly deep water but there are some pretty unpredictable tides and rips." Mr Hewitt, who was a chief petty officer, had served in the navy for 20 years. An expert in tikanga Maori, he had also featured at Government House in many traditional challenges to overseas dignitaries and was an accomplished performer with the taiaha. He led the challenge when Chinese president Hu Jintao arrived in Auckland in 2003 and performed similar duties to welcome ambassadors. | | GRIEVING: Norm Hewitt says his devastated family are focusing on reclaiming his brother Robert's body after he failed to resurface during a dive off Mana Island on Sunday. ANDREW GORRIE/Dominion Post His disappearance sparked a massive search on Sunday with the Westpac rescue helicopter and Kapiti Air Patrol joined by up to eight boats. Searchers also scoured a large area off the Kapiti and Porirua coast. Those on foot searched Mana Island hoping Mr Hewitt came ashore. Yesterday, a six-man police dive squad checked the sea floor around the area where Mr Hewitt was last seen and the aerial search was widened. By last night, Search and Rescue had covered 132 nautical square miles. A shoreline search was also completed along sections of the Porirua coastline. Navy chief Rear Admiral David Ledson paid tribute to Mr Hewitt, saying he had a good naval career and was in the process of undergoing resettlement training. He had been assistant manager of the navy marae at Devonport, Te Taua Moana, which was opened five years ago. SOURCE - The Dominion PostSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
